---
title: "Watch This “Police Robot” Pull a Car Over"
description: "An American nonprofit has developed a prototype of what it's calling a \"police robot\" — a robot can that pull over cars in heavy traffic."
date: "2019-05-03"
modified: "2019-05-03"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/police-robot-pull-over-driver"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "police"
  - "police robots"
  - "robot police"
  - "the digest"
---

# Watch This “Police Robot” Pull a Car Over

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/watch-this-engineers-police-robot-pull-somebody-over.png>)
*\<em\>Image: SRI International\</em\>*

## Traffic Stop Robocop

American nonprofit research institute SRI International has developed a prototype of what it's calling a "police robot," as [*IEEE Spectrum* reports](<https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/video-friday-watch-this-robocop-make-a-traffic-stop>). The robot is meant to prevent accidents that occur when the police pull over drivers.

https://youtu.be/61xTQ3Bg5XI

The brain behind the bot is Rueben Brewer, a senior robotics research engineer at SRI. Brewer started building the prototype in his garage.

"With such dangerous interactions between people, maybe it's time to send a robot in between them, one that can't hurt or be hurt," reads the caption of the video. "Our robot goes between people to keep everyone safe."

## License and Registration

The cop bot is attached to a telescopic robotic arm that can extend from the side of the cop car to reach the window of the pulled over vehicle in front of it. The office is then able to communicate with the driver via a webcam.

From there, Brewer's robocop can do it all: it can scan the driver's license, spit out a ticket, and even deploy spikes to stop a perp from getting away.

**READ MORE:** [Video Friday: Watch This 'RoboCop' Make a Traffic Stop](<https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/video-friday-watch-this-robocop-make-a-traffic-stop>) \[*IEEE Spectrum*\]

**More on robocops:** *[India Just Swore in Its First Robot Police Officer](<https://futurism.com/india-robot-police-officer>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)